Layaway Jewelry in Port Charlotte

Steve Duke: We have layaway. A lot of people say, “Layaway? What do you mean?” We ask you to put ten percent down on a particular item, whether it’s an antique or a piece of jewelry. You put ten percent down, and you pay on it once a month.

We have no interest. There’s no set amount that you have to pay every month. Whatever’s comfortable for you. We know you’ll pay on it faster the more you want that particular item, so we don’t press anybody. We’ve had pieces on layaway for three years, because people have walked into our store, seen a piece that they wanted, and we have a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces, not things that we can remanufacture.

They saw a one-of-a-kind piece, and they loved it. Their anniversary is in three years, and they said, “You know what? I’m going to put it on layaway.”

And I said, “Fine!” You know, because they don’t need it for three years yet, but they saw it, they wanted it, and they put it away. I try to explain to people, I don’t care if you have it on layaway with me for three years. I’ve already bought it. It’s already in my showcase. All I’m doing is I’m waiting for you to pay back what I paid for it and make my profit margin.

So we love to have people put things on layaway, but we’ve also got financing now. We work with a couple different companies, and if your credit is halfway decent, we send an app through. You put on there what the item is going to be, and most of the time we get it approved.

So that’s is another thing that’s available for people. You know how to get the biggest bang for your dollar? You come in and look at our estate pieces, our pre-loved jewelry, you know — and we’re always happy to work with you on it.

A lot of our pre-loved things are beautiful pieces of jewelry that people have been tired of. They’re older styles. They’ve traded them in for a brand new piece of jewelry, but their old jewelry is new to you.

You don’t have to be the first person in line buying that piece of jewelry anymore, so you save a ton of money by doing that. That’s what I always suggest, you know, if it’s on a limited budget and they’re looking at a lot of pieces that we’ve either made, or that I’ve bought from different manufacturers.

You have to understand that when that manufacturer sold it to me, he’s got 30-50% profit built into that piece of jewelry. So that’s tacked on already. I mean, I had to pay it, so the consumer is going to have to pay it.

If we’ve taken a piece of jewelry in on a trade, we’re trying to sell that to get our money back out of it. It’s no longer a brand new piece of jewelry, but we’ve polished it up, we’ve cleaned it, we’ve done any prong work. We’ve done what needs to be done to it, and you’re able to buy it at a tremendous savings to yourself.

So at Westchester Gold and Diamonds, you’re pretty safe of coming in and getting the most for your money.

Westchester Gold and Diamonds is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday and by appointment at your home or bank.Westchester Gold and Diamonds is located at 4200F Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte, FL 33952.Call (941) 625-0666.